Sports of The Times; Thomas Oozing Into the Hot Seat

By Selena Roberts

Published: May 15, 2006

AS an awkward manipulator, Larry Brown is a career self-saboteur who may have unwittingly pushed Isiah Thomas out of the tunnel and into accountability.

For more than two years, the breezeway at Madison Square Garden has provided cover for Thomas as he scrutinized the Knicks at a safe distance from the blowouts and blunders.

The expensive misfits of Thomas's making were always the burden of the Knicks' coach of the day -- whether Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens, Herb Williams or Brown. Now, Thomas could be on the verge of naming himself the team's fifth head coach in less than three seasons if he can negotiate a $40 million buyout with Brown, as reported yesterday in The New York Post and The Daily News.

The owner, James L. Dolan, has never fretted over money -- why worry when he can raise ticket prices or hike cable bills? -- but even Richie Rich must have an allowance ceiling from Daddy Cablevision.

Why else would Thomas be forced to coach? It's either money or attrition. Are the Knicks running out of celebrity coaches willing to muddy their legacy at Madison Square Garden's dumping ground?

Brown may exit wealthy, but with his aura in tatters. As always, throughout his vagabond journeys, he undoes himself. Just never like this.

If Brown is out, he leaves having lost to soulless Garden politics over a wedge issue: Stephon Marbury.

Brown chose Marbury as a tool to pry Thomas from his perch. To Brown, Marbury and Thomas formed a special union. Marbury was Thomas's guy, his grand showpiece -- and his albatross. And Marbury was Thomas's locker-room snoop, a player faithful to the end.

If Marbury was booted, Thomas would surely get his, too. So by maligning Marbury for his leadership, Brown was exposing Thomas for his rudderless strategy. By belittling Marbury for his approach to the game, Brown was taking a swipe at Thomas for his approach to team construction.

Brown's public complaints with Marbury -- and, by extension, Thomas -- were legitimate but not exceptionally smart.

Brown never anticipated two issues. First, the Garden credo is Survival of the Unctuous; and Thomas, with his press-on smile and iron-on loyalty, kissed the Gucci's of Dolan best. Second, Brown never figured Thomas would end up at the center of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Madison Square Garden.

That made Thomas impervious to firing. How could Dolan, who treated Anucha Brown-Sanders as an interloper to the Garden's inner circle, serve a pink slip to his beloved accused?

How could Dolan, who lauded Thomas for his character and job quality, dismiss Thomas for incompetence when that was the Garden's rap on Brown-Sanders?

Brown couldn't compete with Thomas in a replay of disingenuous reindeer games. Where hasn't Brown been knocked for his psychosomatic wanderlust? In Detroit, the invisible owner surfaced to impugn Brown's character upon his exit last year, and the Pistons' general manager, Joe Dumars, openly disputed Brown's version of events leading to his dismissal.

Where hasn't Thomas been branded a scoundrel? At every stop, from Toronto to the Continental Basketball Association to Indiana, Thomas left with his credibility at a deep deficit.

He may be out of escape hatches. For once, Thomas should have to confront his own chaos. In New York, that may mean coaching it. But don't confuse Thomas with the Heat's Pat Riley, who was on the sideline yesterday at Continental Arena, orchestrating a Heat victory against the Nets. But he was doing so out of choice, not necessity.

To reclaim his identity as a gilded coach, Riley slithered from executive suite to bench suit as he tapped the loyal Stan Van Gundy on his blue collar in December to break in, to dance on the sidelines with his Heat once again.

Riley dubbed the Heat a mess when he swooped down, but he was alone in his description. Most thought the Heat was a team in transition, one that would right itself once Antoine Walker & Company found a comfort zone.

With an 11-10 record, Van Gundy should not have been threatened, but Riley's ego can be a wrecking ball to common sense. Certainly, Riley and Thomas have the hubris gene in common, but there is an important difference. ''I've coached for 22 years,'' Riley said, and without saying so raised Thomas's uninspired, if brief, coaching legacy at Indiana.

Riley isn't like Thomas. He didn't need coaching to validate himself, his moves, his genius. He returned to simply feel the sideline under his feet again. Riley has never fancied himself as a front-office tycoon, not the way Thomas does.

''If you're coaching, you can't be an executive,'' Riley said. ''I've never been an executive. I'm not an executive.''

But isn't Riley still listed as one in the Heat's hierarchy?

''I'm a coach who happens to have a title,'' he said, smiling. ''That's different. I don't get paid any more for it, either.''

Thomas shouldn't receive a coaching bonus, either. If Brown secures a buyout, Thomas should step out of the tunnel and onto the sideline to face a debacle of his design. This would be justice -- awkwardly and unwittingly delivered by Brown.

Photo: Guard Stephon Marbury and Coach Larry Brown were at odds throughout a miserable season. (Photo by Barton Silverman/The New York Times)(pg. D3)